Generally, all vehicles have an attached door handle assembly comprising of a plastic shell, a key cylinder and a door handle. It is well known to use a threaded stud and nut assembly to attach the key cylinder to the plastic shell, but this requires a plurality of fastening parts as well as assembly time to assemble the fastening parts. It is also known to use a snap-in attachment apparatus in conjunction with conventional fasteners to attach the key cylinder to the plastic shell of the door handle assembly. Such designs are susceptible to having the key cylinder pushed in by forces applied to the key cylinder from outside the vehicle. It would be desirable to provide a snap-in attachment apparatus for connecting a key cylinder to a door handle assembly that reduces the number of parts, as well as assembly time, and that requires a substantial force to push in the key cylinder from outside the vehicle.